A Matter of Trust
by Lodylodylody
Summary: How did an air hockey table lead to all this?
1. Chapter 1

If one had to assign blame for the whole mess, one could argue it was all Betty's fault.

Not that Betty LeBow, owner and operator of _Rumble Juice_ , would ever have done anything to hurt her five favorite teenage customers. She may have been a bit prickly at times...and quick tempered...but that didn't change how she felt about Lindy, Logan, Jasmine, Garrett and Delia. The youngsters were more than just customers to her. She considered them friends...almost family...especially Garrett.

So naturally he was the one who ended with a lion's share of the hurt.

It all started innocently enough. When Betty found a bargain at a rummage sale.

******'******

"What is this exactly?" Garrett asked.

"It's an air hockey table," Betty answered with a note of disbelief in her tone. "How can you not know air hockey?"

Garrett merely shrugged.

"You kids with your smartphone, iPad, tablet, whatchamacallits," Betty muttered as she rolled her eyes. "you all have no idea what classic fun is all about."

The young man remained unimpressed. "Well, how does it work?"

Betty plugged in the table and gave her part-time employee a quick lesson in the basics of the game.

"This actually is sort of fun," Garrett admitted, a moment before he scored a point against his boss. "Oh wow!"

"Hey, pretty good. Not to many can get a goal against Betty," she said, referring to herself in third person as was her habit...right before Garrett scored again.

"Of course, Betty is out of practice," she said with a slight frown.

"I'm actually good at this!" Garrett's face wore a wide grin. He'd never been particularly athletic. And while he was not without talent, his skills weren't of the type that were appreciated by many of his peers (his four best friends being noted exceptions). So finding a new activity that came easily to him was a welcome surprise.

A few more minutes of playing made it clear that Garrett was a natural at the game...and Betty was indeed out of practice. But while she was miffed at being shown up by a beginner, the fact that Garrett was enjoying the game so much served at proof that her instincts were correct when she bought the table. The high school students that made up the majority of her customers would enjoy the game and this spend more time...and money...in _Rumble Juice_.

******'******

As it turned out, the game was a pretty solid hit with patrons. Not everyone, of course. Some teens felt they were too cool to play something so 'old-school', but many more enjoyed it, including most of Garrett's friends. They all spent a fair amount of time (and quarters) on the game after school during _Rumble Juice_ 's business hours, except for Jasmine.

"How come you never give it a try?" Betty asked the Asian-American fashionista one afternoon. "You might like it."

"Oh, I know I would," Jasmine replied with an oddly knowing smile. "But look at them."

Betty turned her gaze over to the table and watched Garrett and another teen engaged in a very intense air hockey duel, with a group of excited spectators gathered around them.

"All I see is a bunch of your friends enjoying themselves," Betty commented.

"Yes, but look at Garrett and his challenger," Jasmine continued. "See the mussed hair? The sweat?"

"Oh...Betty gets it," the older female said. You don't want to look less than perfect in public."

"I don't do things halfway," Jasmine replied. "But I can't play at my best and look my best at the same time." She paused to smile as Garrett defeated his opponent and soaked up the cheers of his friends. "Besides...this is Garrett's thing."

******'******

In just a few weeks it became obvious that air hockey was indeed 'Garrett's thing'. Almost none of his classmates could match his skill.

Unfortunately, one of the exceptions to that rule was an absolute jerk.

"HAH!" Myron Travis exclaimed triumphantly as he scored the winning goal. "I am supreme!"

Garrett frowned even as his friends cast sympathetic looks in his direction.

"You'll get him next time," Logan said as he patted his best friend on the back.

"Ah, it's okay," Garrett replied. "It's only one game."

The victor however, was treating his win as a monumental achievement. His gloating took on an insulting tone.

"All hail the mighty Myron," he called out dramatically. "Champion of champions! Destroyer of dweebs!"

"Oh give it a rest, Myron," Lindy said dismissively. "You won by one point."

"And if you really are the destroyer of dweebs," Delia added. "Wouldn't you have to destroy yourself?"

Jasmine and Logan chuckled.

"Just ignore him Deals," Garrett advised Delia. "Like I said, it's only one game." His expression hardened as he turned towards Myron. "And it won't happen again."

"Big talk, Dweeb," Myron retorted. "Care to make a gentlemanly wager then?"

"He might," Jasmine spoke up. "Do you know a gentleman he could make the such a wager with?" She then high-fived Garrett while the rest of their friends laughed.

"How very droll," Myron said sarcastically. "Not that I'd expect you to have the guts to accept my challenge."

"What's your challenge, Myron?" Garrett asked with an annoyed sigh.

His unpleasant air hockey rival responded by pointing to a handmade poster that had only recently been hung on _Rumble Juice_ 's wall. A poster about an air hockey tournament that was scheduled for the coming weekend.

"I intend to win that tournament," Myron declared.

"Well, that's going the be difficult," Garrett replied. "Since I'll be winning that tournament."

******'******

The wager was quickly worked out though not without numerous insults being exchanged. Almost none of the insults actually came from Garrett himself though...as his friends were more than happy to step up and trade barbs with Myron.

In the end, the exact terms were written down to avoid any arguments. If Myron won the tournament, Garrett would act as his personal servant for one month. If Garrett won, Myron would be his servant. Some limits were placed to ensure that the winner couldn't interfere with their servant's school or job obligations...but other than that, the loser would be in for a very hard and humiliating time. A fact that was not lost on Garrett. He began to have second thoughts almost as soon as Myron had left _Rumble Juice_ , but his friends were quick to reassure him.

Though he appreciated all their encouragement, his worries didn't entirely subside until Jasmine placed a hand on his shoulder and told him...

"There's no way you'll ever be Myron's servant."

And then, when none of the rest of their friends were looking, she leaned close to whisper in his ear and quickly added...

"I won't let that happen."

******'******

Betty was pleased the day of the tournament, even though she was extra busy. There was a good crowd for the event, and she was working alone since she'd given Garrett the day off so he could concentrate on nothing but winning at air hockey.

Despite a sizable field of entrants and some exciting matches, it became clear early on that the finals would come down to Garrett and Myron. Both seemed pretty equal in all areas of their game...except for their cheering sections. In that respect Garrett was clearly far ahead, for Lindy, Logan, Jasmine and Delia were quite vocal in supporting their friend.

Little did they suspect that Myron had a supporter in the crowd as well. One who was silent...but who would prove to have a significant impact on the championship round.

Garrett was up by two points...but there was still plenty of time left in the match.

"Go Garrett!" Logan cheered. "You got this!"

Jasmine leaned against her boyfriend and seconded his comments. "Yeah! Go Garrett!"

Lindy and Delia shouted similar comments...but then another spectator rushed the table and knocked Garrett to the floor. Commotion broke out as the attacker raced out the door. Logan started to give chase as Lindy, Jasmine and Delia all rushed to help Garrett back to his feet.

"What's going on here?" Betty said forcefully as she left the counter and moved over to join her young friends.

"Oh the tragedy of it all," Myron said in an unconvincing tone. "An epic competition marred by random violence."

"Did you have something to do with this, Myron?" Delia said as she advanced on him with a menacing look in her eyes.

"Of course not," he said quickly as he backed away from the petite but surprisingly intimidating girl. "I swear. And I defy anyone to prove otherwise."

Logan returned at that moment.

"That guy lost me," he said in a slightly winded voice. "Did anyone see who he was? I didn't recognize him."

None of the others present could identify him either, though Garrett and his friends didn't miss the smug expression on Myron's face.

"You did have something to do with this," Lindy accused.

"I did not," he insisted. "And you can't prove I did."

Lindy glared angrily before turning to her twin brother. "Logan," she said. Who do you think can throw Myron farther? You or me?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Let's find out."

"Hold on! Hold on!" Betty shouted. "No more violence!" Then in a softer voice she told Lindy and Logan that she didn't want them to get in trouble.

Meanwhile, Jasmine was concentrating on Garrett. "Are you okay?"

"My wrist hurts," he answered as he held it tenderly.

He flinched when Jasmine touched him, even though she made every effort to be gentle. "It might be sprained," she said.

"I can't finish the game."

"What's that?" Myron cut in. "It looks like we have a forfeit."

Oh shut up, you little weasel," Betty snapped.

"You can't let him get away with this," Lindy said to the shop owner.

"I don't want to, Betty replied. "But-"

"Wait," Jasmine interrupted. "Under the circumstances, Garrett should be allowed a substitute to finish the game for him."

"That sounds fair," Betty agreed.

None of Garrett's other friends seemed overjoyed at Jasmine's suggestion however. None of them had the skill to beat Myron.

"Who's going to play for you, Garrett?"

The injured teen exchanged a look with Jasmine. She nodded, and then Garrett turned to answer Betty's question.

"Jas."

Betty raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" The rest of their friends...and everyone else in the crowd looked equally surprised.

Garrett simply smiled as Jasmine took off her jacket.

"Okay," Betty said with a shrug. "For the final match we now have Myron Travis versus Jasmine Kang."

As Jasmine stepped up to the table she shot a withering glare towards Myron as she spoke. "But you can call me Kang...the Conqueror!"

******'******

 _ **To be continued...**_


	2. Chapter 2

Lindy, Logan and Delia did not understand what was going on.

They didn't understand why Garrett had chosen Jasmine to play for him. Nor did they understand the confident looks on both their faces. Jasmine had never played a single game of air hockey before. Not One.

To their knowledge.

So when Jas scored her first point on Myron in less than two seconds they were shocked...though they supposed that surprise, mixed with overconfidence on Myron's part, could explain it.

That was not a sufficient explanation for the next ten unanswered points she scored.

As a result, every single person in _Rumble Juice_ was as slack-jawed as Myron when Jasmine was declared the winner and undisputed air hockey champion. Every single person except for Garrett and Jasmine.

Surprising as it was though. Lindy, Logan and Delia were still overjoyed at the victory. They overcame their shock after a few moments to rush forward and offer congratulations.

"Babe," Logan said as he embraced Jasmine. "You have mad skills!"

"How did you do that?" Delia asked. Her expression then turned suspicious. "Wait...are you actually Jasmine? Or an alien imposter who's taken her form to infiltrate humanity in order to conquer the Earth?"

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "How about I answer that after I go to the ladies' room and make myself presentable again?"

Lindy laughed. "That's the Jas we know. Definitely not an alien."

"Unless she's an alien who's done her homework to make her impersonation more convincing," Delia countered.

The three girls went off to the restroom as Logan moved to his best friend's side. The two of them did a little justified gloating at Myron's expense until the unpleasant young man stormed off. Once they were alone, the topic of conversation changed.

"So when did Jasmine learn to play air hockey so well?" Logan asked.

"She's a natural," Garrett answered. "Way more than me even."

"Yeah. She was awesome." Logan was silent for a few moments after that. While he was a young man with a lot of good qualities, one thing he was not known for was swiftness of mind. Still, in this instance, even he didn't overlook an obvious question.

"How did you know she was so good?"

Garrett began to answer, but that was the moment that the three girls returned...and Jasmine gave Logan a hug and quick kiss on the cheek.

"Miss me?" she asked.

"You know it," Logan answered.

The five friends made their way to their favorite seats and were quickly set up with some victory smoothies from Betty. At first conversation was focused on the kinds of tasks that Garrett should subject Myron to for the next month...but it wasn't long until the question of Jasmine's hidden skills came up again.

"Well, I always thought the game looked fun," she explained. "But I didn't want to have anyone see me sweat in public."

"So I suggested she come by on nights after the shop was closed and I was cleaning up," Garrett added. "I enjoyed the game and wanted any excuse to practice. But we quickly found out who the better player was."

"Is that why you volunteered for all the closing shifts?" Betty asked.

"Yes, but we didn't play any games until after I clocked out," Garrett assured her.

"I just did my homework here while Garrett cleaned up," Jas added. "Then we played when he was done. We didn't think you'd mind."

"Nah...it's all good," the store owner replied. "I trust you two."

Unfortunately, while trust was not an issue with Betty in this case, the same could not be said of everyone.

******'******

"Jas?"

"Yes, Logan?"

"Yesterday when you played for Garrett and beat Myron...you called yourself 'Kang the Conqueror'."

"Right," she said, wondering why her boyfriend had brought the nickname up.

"Did you know that's the name of -"

"A comic book villain," she answered before he could finish the question. "Yeah...he fights the Avengers."

"How did you know that?" her boyfriend asked. "You're not into comics."

"Garrett told me," she replied. "He gave me the nickname and told me where it came from."

"You...talked about comic books...with Garrett?"

"Oh not really. He just explained the nickname." She smiled. "I like it. I figured you'd like it too...since you're into comics."

"Yeah," he replied, even as he thought about how his girlfriend had never had any interest in discussing comic books with him.

******'******

"So you two do this...every night?" Delia asked.

"Pretty much," Garrett answered. "Any night the rest of you are busy. And since you're rehearsing for the school musical and Lindy is volunteering at the animal shelter and Logan is exhausted from basketball practice...well, it works out great."

"I suppose."

Garrett noted the somewhat pensive look on his friend's face.

"Deals? What's wrong?"

"Um...nothing I guess."

He looked at her again. "Deals?"

"Don't you think it's a little odd?"

He responded with a genuinely puzzled look. "Why? It's not always all five of us hanging out. We've all spent time together when the others are busy." He laughed. "What do you think you and I are doing right now?"

"Well, no. There's nothing odd about any of us hanging out together," she agreed.

Garrett grinned, confident that he'd answered whatever worry was playing at his friend's mind. But the grin faded with her next question.

"But don't you think it's weird that you and Jas were spending so much time together for weeks...and kept it secret from the rest of us?"

******'******

"We were not keeping it secret," Jasmine huffed.

"But none of us knew that you guys-" Lindy began.

"YOU NEVER ASKED!"

After the outburst Jasmine took a moment to try and compose herself. It wasn't easy. "Garrett and I never thought anything about it. He never minded that I was better than him at air hockey, but since I never intended to play in public, and I knew it was fun for him to have everyone think there was something he was the best at...there was no need to bring it up."

"Sweetie," the blonde began only to be cut off again.

"Linds, you're my best friend," Jasmine said. "We're practically sisters. And you're making me feel like I did something wrong just by spending time with a guy we've both known for as long as we've known each other."

"I didn't mean to," Lindy said sincerely. "It's just...I think it's bothering Logan."

"You think I don't know that?" She sniffed as she fought back some tears. "He's been so distant. And he barely talks to Garrett anymore." She paused. "It's not right."

******'******

"It's not right at all!" Usually Garrett was not one for confrontations...especially with other males.

So the fact that he was now yelling at the closest male friend he'd ever had was making him sick to his stomach.

"You know what's not right?" Logan shouted back. "My best friend and my girlfriend sneaking around behind my back!"

Once those words were uttered, a new look of shock came to Garrett's face. Shock so great that it temporarily replaced the anger in his eyes. Yes, he had already known the issue that was upsetting Logan, and apparently most of his other friends...but to hear it spoken aloud...in those words...in that tone.

"I don't know what sickens me more," he finally said in a tone so hard it actually made Logan take a half step backwards. "That you don't trust me...or that you don't trust Jasmine."

He turned to leave but then stopped. He didn't turn back around...as he was not going to let Logan see the tears that he couldn't hold back anymore. Instead he put all his effort into keeping his voice steady as he spoke. "If my friendship means nothing to you...then...then...fine. But if you think so little of Jas, then you don't deserve her."

With that, Garrett left...without turning back. So he never knew that he wasn't the only one with tears in his eyes.

******'******

"Yes, we tricked you all here," Lindy said. "But get over it!"

"The doors and windows are locked," Delia added. "Nobody leaves until we have this out."

The expressions on Jasmine's, Logan's and Garrett's faces were all equal parts anger and sadness.

"Guys," Lindy pleaded. "This can't be the end of us."

There was nothing but silence after that for a long while. Silence and a lot of avoidance of eye contact...until Jasmine stood to face Logan.

"Let me make a few things clear," She paused, clearly hesitant to continue. Finally she pushed on. "I love Garrett."

Lindsay and Delia both gasped.

"And Garrett loves me." Tears began falling from her eyes. "But I'm in love with you, Logan...and the fact that the man I love doesn't trust me..." Her words dissolved into incoherent sobs.

"Jas, I'm sorry!" He grabbed her into a desperate hug as he began sobbing himself. "I'm so sorry! I was an idiot! You know me, I'm always an idiot!"

After a moment, Garrett spoke up. "Logan, you need to know you can trust Jasmine. You should never doubt her. And I wish you'd never doubt me. Because here's how it is...I do love Jas, And I love Deals. And I love you, man." He paused. "But when it comes to being in love..."

Jasmine's sobbing suddenly lessened and she turned her head quickly to the young man currently speaking. "Garrett...are you sure you want-"

He cut her off. "It's okay, Things we didn't say are ripping our group apart. Now maybe I'll say this and we'll still fall apart...but at least I'll have finally gotten it out."

He took a deep breath. "Like I said, I love Jas." He turned to Lindy. "But I'm in love with you."

Lindy's mouth opened but no words came out. Her brother had a similar look of surprise on his face. Delia's surprise was just as great but there was a smile on her face as she blurted out "Ohmigod!"

There was no surprise on Jasmine's face...she just studied her best friend's eyes hoping to see a positive reaction there. For Garrett's sake.

"I don't expect you to feel the same," the dark-haired young man continued. "And if this makes you too uncomfortable for us to be friends...I understand." He almost managed to keep his voice from catching.

Lindy just stared at him without speaking. Her expression still too full of shock to reveal any other feelings. Slowly she turned her gaze from Garrett to Jasmine.

"You...knew..."

"Garrett knew how I felt about Logan before any of the rest of you," she replied. "And yeah...I've known for a while how he feels about you." She swallowed. "But I don't know how you feel about him. As your best friend though, can I tell you something?" She smiled as a glimmer of hope came to her eyes. "You deserve a guy like him."

Lindy's gaze went back to Garrett, and finally an emotion other than shock appeared on her face.

"I don't know," she said as she closed the distance between Garrett and herself and looked into his eyes. "You might be too good for me."

"There's no man on Earth that's too good for you," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

Lindy kissed him.

Delia cheered.

With tears of joy in her eyes, Jasmine turned her face back to boyfriend, only to be kissed herself.

"Please forgive me," Logan said when their kiss ended. "I promise I will always trust you. And Garrett too. Oh!" He looked over to Garrett. "Dude, I totally trust you. Okay? But you and my sister...um...you hurt her and I'll have to pound you. You cool with that?"

Garrett, still giddy that he'd just been kissed by the girl of his dreams, laughed as he answered. "I'm cool. Oh!" He paused. "Look, I know I'm not her brother...but if you hurt Jas...I'll pound you. Or at least I'll hire a larger, stronger guy to pound you. Cool?"

"Totally!"

"And Garrett," Jasmine added in a loving tone. "You got one thing wrong there. You ARE my brother."

Lindy looked to Jasmine and added. "And you're my sister."

Delia spoke. "And I'm the eccentric cousin that you all have to put up with at the holidays even when I don't call ahead and let you know I'll be staying for a month or more!"

"That goes without saying, Deals," Garrett replied.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

 **The End.**


End file.
